Dad, Dad, and Dad?

Chapter 8

June 11, 2015
Josh paced back and forth, bursting with nerves. After yesterday, Josh invited Freya over to the house. It was now or never for him to introduce her and Riley to each other. As long as Freya doesn't dump him right then there, things might be okay. Josh had practiced his explanation all night. He knew this day would happen eventually. He knew it from the moment he agreed, "Yes" to take in Riley.

"Daddy what are you doing?" Riley asked him.

"Remember about the girl I told you you're going to meet today?" Josh reminded. Riley nodded. "Well, right now I'm waiting for her to arrive."

"Why do I need to meet her?" Riley wondered.

"Because she's an important person in my life." Josh answered.

"Who is she?" Riley continued.

"My girlfriend." he said. Josh decided to dress his daughter up a little nicer than just the same pair of jeans and shirt she wears almost everyday. The boys either forget or can't be bothered to create a new outfit everyday. At least they still run it through the wash.

"Isn't mummy your girlfriend?" She reached up wanting to be held.

"No. She used to be." Josh wanted Freya to get here sooner rather than later. Josh remained still as Riley touched his hair. A few short minutes later, Freya arrived. Josh set Riley on the couch downstairs and told her not to move.

"Hey, baby!" Josh greeted.

"Hi, Josh!" Freya kept her tone more serious. Josh gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Okay, so I'm guessing this is important?" Freya assumed. If the boys had to lie to their fans about this and Josh had to invite her over for this, she had the right to assume so.

"You would be guessing correctly. To be fair on my part, this child does belong to somewhat friend of mine." Josh slowly walked with Freya over to the "living room". "Freya, I would like you to meet Riley!" Josh moved his hands to show Riley. "Riley this is Freya. The love of my life." Josh thought he'd throw that in.

"Daddy I'm hung-ie." Riley spoiled the secret for Josh. He cringed a little on the inside not wanting it to come out that sudden.

"Josh, I thought only the fangirls and Simon called you, 'dad'." Freya jeered, very surprised to hear what she just heard.

"So here's the story." He jumped straight in at that point. "A long time ago towards the end of school, before uni, I had a girlfriend and eventually I broke up with her. Obviously. But when we were dating right before we separated, I... got her pregnant... Whoops. But we never talked after that and instead I found you! However, after all these years, she's come back and asked me if I would watch over Riley while she's in America for a year." he finished his story. They sat there while Freya took it all in. Riley was behind Josh trying to climb on top of him.

"So you mean to tell me that she's your kid? We've been dating for four(? Five?) years and you've never told me you have a kid? Or that you had an ex-girlfriend you left pregnant?" Freya was infuriated. To Josh this was going downhill fast.

"I forgot, somehow. When I left her she was two months in and she acted like she would be fine on her own so I never had to think about the child twice. We didn't want to talk to each other after that, so we didn't. This is only temporary. I'm just doing her a favor nothing else." Josh went on.

"This doesn't mean anything between you and her?" Josh shook his head. "Riley won't be seen again after this?" Josh shook his head. "This is just a onetime favor?" Josh nodded his head. "Are there any other secrets I should know about?"

"No, I promise you. I promise you this is just me watching over an old friend's child. You don't even have to think of Riley as my daughter." Josh told Freya. That last part was for Freya's sake. He loved having Riley as his kid. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go upstairs for a minute and I'll let you two bond." Josh swiftly got up and went to Simon's room. Why Simon's? Because he was really curious of what would happen since this was all sort of his fault.

"Oh my God, Simon."

"Does that mean it's going good or bad?" Simon couldn't distinguish if it was a relieved 'Oh my God' or distressed 'Oh my God'.

"I don't know. I mean, she hasn't dumped me. She doesn't seem out right disgusted with me. At first she did a tiny bit but... Right now she appears like she's able to look past the fact I helped create that baby girl-"

"Heh, baby girl."

"Simon! But what if she's just hiding the fact she now hates me?!" Josh worried. He fell onto Simon's bed.

"Josh... There's no doubt Freya is definitely feeling weird about this. I'm sure she won't hold you against this the rest of your life. Freya really loves you. We all know that. You should know that better than any of us." Simon comforted. "This won't ruin your relationship. Riley is temporary, Freya isn't. And I'm sure she knows you love her more than any ex-girlfriend." he reassured. Josh took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Thanks, Simon." Josh appreciated the reassurance that he won't end up alone because of Riley. "You're a true mate you know that?"

"You say that whilst I'm giving relationship advice, kind of, but I've been single for about three years now." Simon pointed out.

"Don't see how."

"Flirty much?" Simon wiggled his eyebrows.

"I've got a girlfriend downstairs. I'm a loyal hoe." Josh bantered.

"Then go see her!" Simon playfully pushed Josh out of his room.

When Josh got back downstairs, he saw Freya braiding Riley's hair. Things seemed a bit better now. Josh went over his little loving speech to Freya again. Saying anything he could that would make her stay with him. Freya accepted his honest words. There was no doubt in Freya's mind that this would change some of her views about him. Either way, she then left satisfied with the answer to, "Who is that?". As soon as she left, Josh made Riley a snack and then he called Tobi.

"I think we're all good, Tobi."

"Great! Even if things seem shaky for the next few days, I promise you everything will be okay." Of course nobody really knows, if things will be okay.

(Oh yeah, ignore the fact Ri should be going to school...)